Establishment of an experimental apiary at the UAB
Josep Victori Hernández Duch
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, June 2018
• Know the critical situation that bees suffer, specifically in the EU.
• Show the guidelines to install an experimental apiary in the UAB campus, and handle it correctly.
• Define the main indicators of interest in tracking the hives.
There are high annual mortalities in Europe (Spain ≈ 13%), but with an increase in the total honey production due to the high renovation of colonies (elevated cost of renovation). Furthermore, there is an important decrease in
productivity (critical situation).
Door
≈ 0.5 m
4 m
≈ 1.5 m
≈ 0.7 m
≈ 0.7 m
Figure 2: Scheme of the apiary (16m2) with indication of the direction of the entrances.
≈ 0.7 m 4 m
Objectives
Present situation in the EU
Installation
Field measurements
Büchler R., Andonov S., Bienefeld K., Costa C., Hatjina F., Kezic N., Kryger P., Spivack M., Uzunov A., Wilde J. 2013. Standard methods for rearing and selection of Apis mellifera queens. J.Apicultural Res. 52:1-30.
Delaplane K.S., Van der Steen J., Guzman-Novoa E. 2013. Standard methods for estimating strength parameters of Apis mellifera colonies. J. Apicultural Res. 52:36-53.
Gerig L. 1983. Course in determination of colony strength. Bee J. 106:199-204.
Informe de la comisión de 2016 sobre el Reglamento (UE) nº 1308/2013 del Parlamento Europeo y del Consejo por el que se crea la organización común de mercados de los productos agrarios. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/
Servei Meteorològic de Catalunya. Anuari de dades meteorològiques 2018. http://www.meteo.cat/wpweb/climatologia/serveis-i-dades-climatiques/anuaris-de-dades
Characteristics of the apiary
Hives 6 hives (Dadant model).
Orientation SE (+ development).
Location Open space, protected from the wind and away from people.
Climatology and feeding: Cold winter and dry summer (Figure 3).
- Assure water supply (hygienic water trough).
- Feed with artificial feeding in January and November (cold season) and in
August (dry season).
- Add melliferous plant species in the apiary with complementary flowering seasons to the rest of species.
Measurements (M1-M10)
M1 (flight): During 15 minutes bees are counted as they enter and leave the hive.
M2 (temperature): Measurement of the exterior and interior temperature of the hive to evaluate the
thermoregulation capacity of the colonies.
M3 (weigh and morphology of bees): Weighing live bees in a previous fast to determine their nutritional and health
status.
M4 (uniformity of the brood): Determine the percentage of aggregation in the brood cells, "mosaic" pattern is a sign of a colony disease or a problem of the queen.
M5 (sick brood): Determine the percentage of brood cells with sick or dead larvae and assess their status.
M6 (cleaning): Cut a comb section of sealed brood,
freeze it (-20ºC for 24 h) and reinsert it into a frame of the hive. Assess the ability to remove the dead larvae in 24 h.
M7 (queen cells): Determine the production of queen cells and their type (replacement, emergency or swarming cells).
M8 (productivity): Weigh the honey supers (only contain honey and pollen).
M9 (colony size): Determine the size of the population
through photographs of the frames and computer support, knowing the density of bees in the frames (1,24 bees/cm2).
M10 (gentleness): It is scored on a scale from 1 to 4, where 1 represents the most negative phenotype.
Calendar
Conclusions
J F
MA M J J A S O N D
M1-M3 (Daily)
M4-M6 (Once per week, weeks 13/17/21/25)
• Artificial feeding.
• Minimize hive handling, because to thermal stress in winter and alteration of the colonies routine.
• When measurements are superimposed, carry them out in a single opening of the hive.
M7-M10 (Once per week, odd weeks from 9 to 39)
(1 month = 4 weeks; 1 year ≈ 48 weeks)
Cold season Cold season
Dry season
Figure 3: Ombrothermic diagram of the UAB with data from 2006 to 2016.
Bibliography
• The actual situation of bees (A. mellifera) in Europe is critical (high mortality and low productivity).
• The establishment of an experimental apiary is a way to
contribute to find the causes of the problem and to look for solutions (wide range of research possibilities).
• Bees are very sensitive to the availability of food and management, so it is necessary to develop a complete calendar of tasks.
Figure 1: Annual total production of honey and productivity of the hives in the EU from 2006 to 2016.
